Photographic shutter.



J. LINDER. PHOTOGRAPHIG SHUTTER.

APPLICATION FILED 11116.5, 1910.

1,026,043. Patented May 14, 1912.

J. LINDER.

PHOTOGRAPHIC SHUTTER. APDPLIOATION FILED we. 5, 1910.

1,026,043. Patented May 14, 1912.

2 BHEETB-SHEET 2.

COLUMBIA PLANOORAIIH CO.,WASIIINOTON, um.

UNITED STATES PATENT oEEIoE.

JOHN LINDER, 0F DEER PARK, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR TO EASTMAN KODAK 00., OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PHOTOGRAPHIG SHUTTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 14, 1912.

Application filed August 5, 1910. Serial No. 575,638.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN LINDER, of Deer Park, in the county of Spokane and State of WVashington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Photographic Shutters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the reference-numerals marked thereon.

My present invention relates to photography and more particularly to photographic shutters and it has for its object to provide a device of this nature embodying many of the advantages of the more complicated and expensive shutters in one of simple construction capable of being produced at low cost.

The improvements are further directed toward reducing the bulk and weight of a shutter though retaining its eificiency and range of utility.

To these and other ends the invention consists in certain improvements and combinations of parts all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In the drawings: Figure l is a front elevation of a shutter constructed in accordance with and illustrating one embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 is a rear elevation in section through the casing, the shutter being set and the parts in position for a timed exposure; Fig. 3 is a rear elevation of the shutter parts in operation with the shutter blade about to be opened and adjustments made for a timed exposure; Fig. 4 is a similar View, the operation having progressed to the point of the opening of the blades; Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail showing the manner in which the shutter operating member regains its set position; Fig. 6 is a detail section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a rear elevation showing the opening of the blades with the parts setfor an instantaneous exposure; F ig. 8 is a similar view just before the blades are opened; Fig. 9 .is an elevation of the mounting with the blades alone in place; Fig. 10 is a central section through the shutter, and Fig. 11 is a detail section through the tension regulating and latch controlling device together with the blade operating member mounted thereon on line 1l-11 of Fig. 2.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several figures indicate the same parts.

The shutter of the present embodiment of the invention has provision for two automatically timed exposures of different lengths hereinafter referred to as instantaneous exposures and for exposures of indeterminate length hereinafter referred to as time exposures. Many shutters ordinarily make provision for three types of exposures known as instantaneous, bulb and time. The first of these usually comprises the opening and closing of the shutter with a single movement of the operating member. In the bulb exposure the shutter is opened with one movement of the operating member and closed when the latter is released by the operator, its open condition being dependent upon the maintenance of the opening pressure, while for the time exposure the opening and closing movements entail two distinct operations between which the parts assume self sustaining positions.

The timed exposures of the shutter of the present embodiment correspond more read ily with bulb exposures, according to the above understanding of the term, but will be herein called time exposures inasmuch as any exposure that is not instantaneous or automatically timed is, in reality, a time exposure under a less technical definition of the term.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings wherein Figs. 7 and 8 are illustrative of an instantaneous exposure and Figs. 1 to 4 of a time exposure, in the design of shutter there illustrated, 1 indicates the shutter mounting and 2 the casing secured thereto on the pillars 3 by screws 4. The blades 5 of the present embodiment are of a well known type (Fig. 9) being pivoted at 6 to move jointly in opposite directions between separated positions, in which light is admitted between them through the exposure opening 7 and a closed position in which they overlap across the opening, as is usual.

Motion is imparted to the blades through a chain of three operating members 8, 9 and 10 all of which engage in the movement at times, while at other times less than the whole number figure, but for convenience herein they are specifically termed the blade operating member 8, the master member 9 and the shutter operating member 10. The blade operating member 8 embodies a lever pivoted loosely on a rotary element 11 ournaled in the mount 1 and later referred to. The lever is provided with two abutments 12 and 18, the latter of which has an inclined end face 14 and with a pin 15 that operates in slots 16 in the shutter blades to project through a slot 17 in the mounting 1 and cause the opening and closing of the blade as the member is oscillated on its pivot. A spring 18 coiled about a bearing sleeve 19 on the lever has one end engaging the latter at 20 to impart to it a normal tendency to move in a direction resulting in the closing of the shutter blade 5.

The master member 9 embodies a bell crank lever pivoted at 21, both of the arms 22 and 23 of which are of a laterally yielding or resilient nature, the arm 23 being inclined slightly, as shown in Fig. 6, in order to allow the cam face projection 24 on an arm 25 of the shutter operating member 10 to ride over the same when moved in one direction, but to lock against it for a time when moved in the other. A spring 26 engaging the master lever at 27 operates it toward the normal position of Fig. its motion being limited by the engagement of a spring arm 28 thereon with the abutment 1.2 on the member 8.

With the parts so far described in the normal position of Fig. 2 the arm 25 of the shutter operating member 10 moves to the left as the shutter is operated and the projection 24 thereon locks against the arm 23 of the master member 9 (Fig. 8) moving the latter against the tension of its spring 26 so that the other arm 22 rides over the cam face 14 of the projection 18 on the blade operating lever 8 without moving this part, the blades being closed, and assumes the position of Fig. 8 snapping downward behind the said projection. Continued movement of the arm 25 results in the projection 24 riding around the end of the arm 23 of the master lever at which point the latter released and the lever returns to its normal position. In doing so it operatively engages for a time the projection or abutment 13 on the blade operating lever 8 and moves the latter downwardly against the tension of its spring 18 to open the shutter blades, as shown in Fig. 7, but it finally rides past the said abutment and releases or trips the lever 8 which returns, under the influence of its actuating spring, closing the shutter blades. As the arm 22 of the master lever leaves the projection 18 it almost immediately engages, through the medium of the spring arm 28, the other abutment 12 and thereby accelerates the closing of the blades by adding the tension of its own spring to that of the one which actuates the lever 8, while the spring arm referred to acts as a cushioning device that absorbs the impact of the master member in reassuming its normal position. A leaf spring 29 engaging the operating arm 30 of the shutter operating member 10 returns the latter to the normal position of Fig. 2, when it is released by the operator, the cam projection 24 riding over the arm 23 of the master member to its set position. The spring 29 may be conveniently formed on a plate 31 secured to the shutter mounting 1 and constituting, if desired, a portion of the camera front or the connecting means between the shutter mount and the lens carriage.

The foregoing is the cycle of operation for instantaneous exposures (Figs. 7 and 8) the duration of which, as to elapsed time, depends upon the tensions of the actuating springs 18 and 26 of the blade operating and master members, respectively. To decrease the period of exposure, I increase the tensions of these springs, and vice versa, the means employed, in the present instance, comprising the rotary element 11, before referred to, upon which the blade operating member 8 is pivoted and which was before described as being journaled in the mount 1. This member carries an arm 32 connected to one end of the master member actuating spring 26 and a second arm 33 against which one end 183 of the actuating spring 18 of the blade operating member 8 bears. Thus, by rotating the element through the medium of an operating arm 34 (Fig. 1), the tensions of the two springs are both regulatedand this arm 34 is preferably of a laterally yielding nature to cooperate with stop teeth 35 and 36 on the mount 1 and act as an indicator pointing to speed indicating characters 37 and 38 which tell of the speed produced ateach stop. The shutter of the present embodiment provides for exposures of a fiftieth and a hundredth of a second, respectively.

For a time exposure a latch is employed to detain the shutter blades in open position until closed at the pleasure of the operator. In the present instance the latch cooperates with the blade operating lever 8 which is provided with an arm 39 for this purpose. The latch itself embodies a bell crank lever 40 pivoted at 41 and comprising an operat ing arm 42 and an engaging arm or portion 43 having a shoulder 44 movable into or out of the path of the arm 39. It is normally held in an inoperative position by a spring 45 mounted on one of the pillars 3 of the mounting and engaging the operating arm 42 while its operative or engaging position is defined by its contact with a stop or abutment 46 on the mountin Each time the shutter operating member 10 is actuated, the arm 25 thereon engages the arm 42 and actuates the latch, against the tension of its spring 45 to an operative position which it reaches before the blade operating member 8 reaches its downward position under the influence of the master members contact with the abutment 13. One of the arms of the bell crank lever latch is therefore made yielding or resilient so that the arm 39 may partially displace its engaging portion and then catch behind the shoulderv 44 thereon where it is retained as long as the shutter operating member is kept depressed and holds the latch in its operative position, the shutter being thus retained in its open position. To terminate the exposure, the shutter operating member is released by the operator and returns to the set posit-ion of Fig. 2 whereat the latch is returned to inoperative position by the spring 45 and the blade operating member 8 is released from the latch shoulder 44 closing the blades.

Of course, during an instantaneous exposure, the latch member must not come into play as the blade operating member 8 should be released as soon as disengaged by the master member at the conclusion of the opening movement. To effect this result, the latch is in the present instance placed under the control of the rotary member 11 that regulates the tension of the shutter actuating spring, the arm 33 of which member has a range of movement between the abutment 46 on the mounting and a second abutment 47 WVhen, with the movement of the controlling member 11 it is in engagement with the first of these, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8, it is in position to engage the latch arm 43 as it is actuated by the shutter operating member and to halt it before it reaches its operative position, the yielding or resilient nature of this or the other arm 42 of the latch or preferably both, as in the present instance, allowing this action in the same way that the latch yields to the engagement of the arm 39 of the lever 8 when in operative position. hen the controlling arm 33 is in position against the other abutment 47, however, it cannot contact the engaging arm of the latch and the latters movement to its operative position is unobstructed, as shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. It will be noted that while the shutter operating member 10, or more particularly its arm 25, moves against the latch to the same degree when the shutter is set for either a time or instantaneous exposure, the engaging portion of the latch travels a greater or less distance toward its operative position according to whether or not it is forced to yield under the adjustment of its controlling device.

The engaging arm 43 of the lat-ch has an abutting portion 48 and a recessed or cut away portion 49, in the present instance, the one to meet and the other to accommodate the controlling arm 33. To bring the latter in proper alinement with these respective parts, the abutments 46 and 47 are provided, but to insure a proper engagement of the arm against the abutments the arm is made resilient or yielding and the rotary member 1, on which it is carried, is given greater throw than would be required to merely actuate it through the distance between the abutment-s. It therefore engages each with a yielding contact and is held against either by its own resiliency.

Another object in making the arm 33 of a yielding nature is to compensate for the movement of the controlling member of which it is a part and the arm 34 thereof between the two instantaneous positions 35 and 36. When the controlling member is set at the latter point, the arm must be in contact with the abutment 46, but when the controlling member is moved to the former adjustment to decrease the tensions of the springs the arm must still be in contact with the abutment, though moved farther against it. Correspondingly when the shutter is adjusted from a low tension to a high tension the arm 33 must not leave the abutment and hence the turning of the controlling member 8 in a direction that would tend to this result is taken up in the straightening of the arm itself. Aside from its other advantages, before mentioned, the ease of assembling a shutter such as described is evident when it is observed that all of the parts are mounted on independent pivots on the mounting 1 and not on each other, except in so far as the same pivot is sometimes used for two parts such as the members 8 and 11 or 9 and 26.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a photographic shutter, the combination with a blade and a spring actuated operating member therefor, of a spring actuated master lever for tripping the operating member and an abutment on the latter for arresting the movement of the master lever.

2. In a photographic shutter, the combination with a blade and a spring actuated operating member therefor having a pair of abutments thereon, of a master lever engaging said abutments successively with a continued movement in one direction to move the operating member in one direction and open the shutter wit-h the first engagement and in the reverse direction to close the shutter with the second.

3. In a photographic shutter, the combination with a blade and a spring actuated operating member therefor having a pair of abutments thereon, of a master lever engaging said abutments successively with a continued movement in one direction to move the operating member in one direction against the tension of its spring and open the shutter with the first engagement and in the reverse direction accelerating the action of said spring to close the shutter with the second.

4. In a photographic shutter, the combination with a blade and a spring actuated operating member therefor, of a spring actuated master lever for tripping the operating member, an abutment for arresting the movement of the master lever and a shock absorbing device acting between the latter and the abutment embodying a spring arm on one of the parts arranged for initial engagement with the other.

5. In a photographic shutter, the combi nation with a shutter mechanism and a spring for actuating the same, of a device for regulating the tension of the spring and a latch movable into and out of position for detaining the shutter in open position and controlled by the regulating device.

6. In a photographic shutter, the combination with a shutter blade, an operating member therefor and a master member controlling the operating member, of an actuating spring for the operating member, an actuating spring for the master member and a tension regulating device common to both springs.

7. In a photographic shutter, the combination with a shutter blade, an operating lever therefor, and a master lever controlling the operating lever, of an actuating spring for each lever and a rotary device turning on an axis coincident with that of one of the levers for controlling the tension of its actuating spring and having an arm cooperating with the other spring to regulate the tension thereof.

8. In a. photographic shutter, the combination with shutter operating means, a spring for actuating the same and a latch for detaining the shutter in open position, of a rotary device having an arm cooperating with the spring to regulate the tension thereof and a second arm for controlling the operation of the latch.

9. In a photographic shutter, the combination with a shutter blade, an operating member therefor and a master member controlling the operating member, of an actuating spring for the operating member, an actuating spring for the master member, a tension regulating device common to both springs, and a latch for detaining the shutter in open position controlled by such device.

10. In a photographic shutter, the combination with a shutter blade, an operating lever therefor and a master lever controlling the operating lever, of an actuating spring for each lever and a rotary device turning on an axis coincident with that of one of the levers for controlling the tension of its actuating spring, an arm on such device co operating with the other spring to regulate the tension thereof, a latch for detaining the shutter in open position and a second arm on the device controlling the operation of the latch.

11. In a photographic shutter, the combination with a shutter operating means, a spring for actuating the same, and a latch having operative and inoperative positions for detaining the shutter in open position for a time exposure, of a device cooperating with the spring to impart to the latter different degrees of tension, an abutment, and a part movable with said device into a position against the abutment wherein it maintains the latch in one position and having a yielding connection with the device whereby it retains its position with respect to the latch during further tension regulating movements of the device.

12. In a photographic shutter, the combination with a shutter operating means, a spring for actuating the same, and a latch having operative and inoperative positions for detaining the shutter in open position for a time exposure, of a rotary device cooperating with the spring to impart to the latter different degrees of tension for varying the speed of the shutter, an abutment and a resilient arm on the rotary device 00- operating with the abutment to maintain the latch in one position, said arm being flexed without changing its cooperative relation during further tension regulating movements of the rotary device.

13. In a photographic shutter, the combination with a shutter operating means, of a spring actuated latch having a normal tendency to assume its inoperative position and moved by the actuation of the operating means into operative position.

14L. In a photographic shutter, the combination with a shutter operating means movable in one direction to open the shutter and reversed to reset the same, of a spring actuated latch having a normal tendency to as sumo its inoperative position and moved by the actuation of the operating means in opening the shutter to a temporary operative position in which it is retained pending the reversal of the operating means.

15. The combination with a shutter mechanism, of a yielding latch member having an engaging portion for holding the shutter open, a member operating to move the latch to operative position each time the shutter is opened and controlling member movable into and out of position to halt the engaging portion of the latch before it reaches its operative position.

16. The combination wit-h a shutter mechanism, of a latch having an engaging portion for holding the shutter open, a member shutter open, one of said arms being of a yielding nature, of a member operating to move the operating arm a uniform distance each time the shutter is opened and a controlling member movable into and out of position to halt the engaging arm before it reaches its operative position.

JOHN LINDER.

operating to move the latch into operative position each time the shutter is opened, a yielding part through Which motion is trans mitted from the member to the engaging portion of the latch and a controlling mem ber movable into and out of position to halt the engaging port-ion of the latch before it reaches its operative position.

17. The combination With a shutter mechanism, of a latch comprising an operating arm and an engaging arm for holding the WVitnesses:

EDITH A. IRISH, EDNA D. SEELEY.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). C. 

